'Opposition should take water project issues to MACC' - Chow

NIBONG TEBAL - Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said that the Opposition should have addressed the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) rather than the police regarding the water project crisis and allegations of corruption in the undersea tunnel project.

"Over the years, we have explained a lot about these issues where the non-Penang media might not be familiar with.

"Let's just wait for the police then. However, if the Opposition really wanted to take this issue seriously, they would address the MACC since they have greater power in this kind of issue, but they haven't," he told reporters after the 'Jom Pekena Durian Bersama CM Chow 2.0' programme at the Kompleks Rakan Muda Jawi compound here today.

Yesterday, Perikatan Nasional's (PN) Badrul Hisham Shaharin, also known as Chegubard and Md Razis Abdul Rahman, accused the government of deliberately halting water projects, leading to allegations of money embezzlement.

They claim that the water crisis in Penang has been ongoing since 2013. According to them, one of the projects was completed within a few years due to pressure from the Opposition when the late Sungai Bakap assemblyman Nor Zamri Latiff was in office.

They suspect money embezzlement is involved, citing Penang infrastructure, transport, and digital committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari's calculations.

These calculations allegedly indicated that the government used 75 per cent of the budget for the four-phase water project, with RM24.6 million allocated for the first phase, leaving very little for the remaining three phases.

On Pakatan Harapan’s campaigning progress ahead of the upcoming Sungai Bakap by-election on Saturday, Chow said that Joohari Ariffin has covered 90 per cent of the effort.

"I believe the remaining will be done well by the candidate in these last 80 hours," he said.

He also commented on the semi-urban, semi-rural geographical state of Sungai Bakap, emphasising the importance of PH’s machinery considering more house-to-house, door-to-door, and group talks (Ceramah Kelompok).

"It is not a heavily populated area, so the government needs to lead based on that.

"Barisan Nasional, as our strategic partner, also has its own way of campaigning," he said.

Chow urged the voters, especially young individuals working outstation, to come home and exercise their voting rights.

"We are urging all eligible voters to vote, and outstation voters can take the opportunity to visit their families," he added.